Proposed complex prompts wetland worries

Published: Sunday, November 4, 2007 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, November 4, 2007 at 11:46 p.m.

Ornithologist Simon Thompson sees a 396-unit retirement complex planned next to Jackson Park as a threat to the adjacent wetlands, bird habitat and duck breeding area.

The project would encompass the hillside, with rock outcroppings visible across the wetlands from Martin Luther King Jr. (Four Seasons) Boulevard.

"This marsh is one of the most important wood duck breeding and roosting sites in the North Carolina mountains," Thompson said in an Oct. 22 column in the Times-News. "Any development in this area would effectively become another barrier restricting wildlife flow from this marsh into the wetlands behind Jackson Park."

While environmentalists and neighbors are organizing a meeting Monday night to voice their concerns, the architect designing the project says it will enhance and not threaten the wetlands.

"We certainly want to maintain the natural setting as much as possible and take advantage of the amenity, the view and being close to the city, while at the same time being close to a park and a rural setting," said Stu LaRose of eppstein uhen: Architects of Milwaukee, Wisc. "The site is fantastic in that regard. Given the fact it would be a senior-based community, it is important to tie into the park to give them walking space and walking trails."

Development plans

The project is planned to include eight duplexes and eight larger two- and four-story buildings -- an assisted living center, a 20-bed skilled care nursing center and an independent living facility. LaRose predicts it will also include 150 to 200 parking spaces, most underground below the buildings with some along a road circling the project. The main entrance would be off Tracy Grove Road, with a secondary access on Wilmont Drive.

The city is waiting on the developer to present a detailed site plan and apply for a special-use permit to allow multi-unit housing.

Concerns voiced

ECO has "gotten a lot of calls from concerned residents of Hendersonville," about the project, said David Weintraub, executive director of the local group.

"Obviously, we are concerned because major development there is going to impact a national bird sanctuary," he said. "This is a major bird migration area. It is going to have a profound effect on both the wetlands and flood plain."

Thompson, owner of Ventures Inc. bird-watching and natural history tours company, is concerned the project will fragment wildlife habitat, placing buildings and parking lots between the large wetlands visible from the highway and adjacent natural areas in Jackson Park. Biologists advocate protecting contiguous areas of habitat as the best way to maintain plant and animal diversity.

"It is all about integrity and keeping an ecosystem intact," Thompson said.

The city's zoning code does not address the issue of maintaining blocks of wildlife habitat, but does require stream buffers and open space as part of development, Planning Director Susan Anderson said.

LaRose, the project architect, says most of the area planned for the project would remain undeveloped. Of the 137 acres, 27 may be developed under a special-use permit the developer plans to seek.

"We're required to have 65 percent of the property as open space to get that permit, but we will far exceed that amount," he said at an Oct. 8 meeting, where the city Planning Board recommended in favor of the zoning map amendment. "About 79 to 80 percent of this project will be green space."

Remnant wetlands

With its wide valley along the French Broad River and Mud Creek, Henderson County once had more wetlands than just about any area of Western North Carolina. Many of those wetlands were filled and converted to agriculture more than 100 years ago.

The wetlands along Mud Creek near Jackson Park are remnants of a much larger system of wetlands that once covered much of the county. These lands are valued not just as wildlife habitat but also for their ability to clean up water pollution and reduce flooding. They are also viewed as amenities for projects such as the retirement community.

The project area and the adjacent wetlands are owned by the family of the late Royce P. "Bo" Thomas, a former state senator. The property is about evenly zoned for medium density residential and conservation/agriculture/residential, with a small area for highway commercial.

The conservation/agricultural/residential zoning is for areas "primarily devoted to uses compatible with the conservation of these unique lands, such as agriculture, low density residential and passive recreational purposes," according to the city zoning code.

Rezoning sought

Margaret Thomas, trustee of the estate, asked the city to rezone about 11 acres of the property from the conservation/agricultural/residential zoning to high density residential. This would allow the developer to seek a special-use permit to allow construction of a skilled care nursing facility, assisted living facility and 298 independent living units for the project's first phase. Phase II is a 50-bed skilled nursing facility, LaRose said.

The applicant is also seeking to get the state and federal government to alter the flood boundary that determines development restrictions on the land. Development is prohibited in the floodway, the area where waters remove rapidly during a flood. The city's flood ordinance allows development within the 100-year-floodplain, also known as the flood fringe, provided structures are built 2 feet above the base flood elevation and development is limited to no more than 10 percent of the floodplain on a particular tract.

While detailed site plans have yet to be submitted, Susan Frady, the city's flood plain manager, estimates "they will be using 10 percent of the 100-year flood way fringe for building. I have looked at it before (and) I think that is probably a little more than six acres they could use for building."

LaRose said none of the structures will be built in the flood plain. One duplex as originally planned would have encroached on the flood plain, but "we are making an adjustment to that duplex so it doesn't extend over that line," he said.

Cooperative approach?

Anderson, the city planning director, said she understands from talking to LaRose that the developer intends to buy all the wetlands from the Thomas family and work with an organization to preserve and enhance them. Weintraub, executive director of ECO, said he has also spoken with LaRose about that possibility.

LaRose said he did not yet know the total estimated cost of the project. He referred questions to developer Scott Frank, also of Wisconsin.

Frank said the project will probably be named Oak Park Place of Hendersonville. His company has developed assisted living facilities under that name in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.

Contacted while traveling Thursday, Frank said: "We have been working with a couple of national groups, Ducks Unlimited included, to help us with the management of those wetlands. We haven't been able to talk to the local groups yet."

Frank said his company has received "a green award from the state of Wisconsin for what we have done before." He said the Hendersonville project will include measures to retain and treat stormwater runoff. He hopes to start work in January or February.

"I certainly want to work with all groups to have a good project," he said. "We have friends that live down there. ... It is a beautiful area and we are excited about coming there to put a nice community together for the elderly."

ECO grew out of an effort by the group's founder, Mary Jo Padgett, to construct a wetlands trail and boardwalk in Jackson Park. The group has pushed in the past to get conservation easements in place to protect the wetlands and would like to see a plan to preserve and restore the wetlands, Weintraub said.

"We were hoping to sit down with one of the major landscape architects here about the steps the developer could take that would be a win-win," he said.

<p>Ornithologist Simon Thompson sees a 396-unit retirement complex planned next to Jackson Park as a threat to the adjacent wetlands, bird habitat and duck breeding area.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>The project would encompass the hillside, with rock outcroppings visible across the wetlands from Martin Luther King Jr. (Four Seasons) Boulevard.</p><p>"This marsh is one of the most important wood duck breeding and roosting sites in the North Carolina mountains," Thompson said in an Oct. 22 column in the Times-News. "Any development in this area would effectively become another barrier restricting wildlife flow from this marsh into the wetlands behind Jackson Park."</p><p>While environmentalists and neighbors are organizing a meeting Monday night to voice their concerns, the architect designing the project says it will enhance and not threaten the wetlands.</p><p>"We certainly want to maintain the natural setting as much as possible and take advantage of the amenity, the view and being close to the city, while at the same time being close to a park and a rural setting," said Stu LaRose of eppstein uhen: Architects of Milwaukee, Wisc. "The site is fantastic in that regard. Given the fact it would be a senior-based community, it is important to tie into the park to give them walking space and walking trails."</p><h3>Development plans</h3>
<p>The project is planned to include eight duplexes and eight larger two- and four-story buildings -- an assisted living center, a 20-bed skilled care nursing center and an independent living facility. LaRose predicts it will also include 150 to 200 parking spaces, most underground below the buildings with some along a road circling the project. The main entrance would be off Tracy Grove Road, with a secondary access on Wilmont Drive.</p><p>The city is waiting on the developer to present a detailed site plan and apply for a special-use permit to allow multi-unit housing.</p><h3>Concerns voiced</h3>
<p>ECO has "gotten a lot of calls from concerned residents of Hendersonville," about the project, said David Weintraub, executive director of the local group.</p><p>"Obviously, we are concerned because major development there is going to impact a national bird sanctuary," he said. "This is a major bird migration area. It is going to have a profound effect on both the wetlands and flood plain."</p><p>Thompson, owner of Ventures Inc. bird-watching and natural history tours company, is concerned the project will fragment wildlife habitat, placing buildings and parking lots between the large wetlands visible from the highway and adjacent natural areas in Jackson Park. Biologists advocate protecting contiguous areas of habitat as the best way to maintain plant and animal diversity.</p><p>"It is all about integrity and keeping an ecosystem intact," Thompson said.</p><p>The city's zoning code does not address the issue of maintaining blocks of wildlife habitat, but does require stream buffers and open space as part of development, Planning Director Susan Anderson said.</p><p>LaRose, the project architect, says most of the area planned for the project would remain undeveloped. Of the 137 acres, 27 may be developed under a special-use permit the developer plans to seek.</p><p>"We're required to have 65 percent of the property as open space to get that permit, but we will far exceed that amount," he said at an Oct. 8 meeting, where the city Planning Board recommended in favor of the zoning map amendment. "About 79 to 80 percent of this project will be green space."</p><h3>Remnant wetlands</h3>
<p>With its wide valley along the French Broad River and Mud Creek, Henderson County once had more wetlands than just about any area of Western North Carolina. Many of those wetlands were filled and converted to agriculture more than 100 years ago.</p><p>The wetlands along Mud Creek near Jackson Park are remnants of a much larger system of wetlands that once covered much of the county. These lands are valued not just as wildlife habitat but also for their ability to clean up water pollution and reduce flooding. They are also viewed as amenities for projects such as the retirement community.</p><p>The project area and the adjacent wetlands are owned by the family of the late Royce P. "Bo" Thomas, a former state senator. The property is about evenly zoned for medium density residential and conservation/agriculture/residential, with a small area for highway commercial.</p><p>The conservation/agricultural/residential zoning is for areas "primarily devoted to uses compatible with the conservation of these unique lands, such as agriculture, low density residential and passive recreational purposes," according to the city zoning code.</p><h3>Rezoning sought</h3>
<p>Margaret Thomas, trustee of the estate, asked the city to rezone about 11 acres of the property from the conservation/agricultural/residential zoning to high density residential. This would allow the developer to seek a special-use permit to allow construction of a skilled care nursing facility, assisted living facility and 298 independent living units for the project's first phase. Phase II is a 50-bed skilled nursing facility, LaRose said.</p><p>The applicant is also seeking to get the state and federal government to alter the flood boundary that determines development restrictions on the land. Development is prohibited in the floodway, the area where waters remove rapidly during a flood. The city's flood ordinance allows development within the 100-year-floodplain, also known as the flood fringe, provided structures are built 2 feet above the base flood elevation and development is limited to no more than 10 percent of the floodplain on a particular tract.</p><p>While detailed site plans have yet to be submitted, Susan Frady, the city's flood plain manager, estimates "they will be using 10 percent of the 100-year flood way fringe for building. I have looked at it before (and) I think that is probably a little more than six acres they could use for building."</p><p>LaRose said none of the structures will be built in the flood plain. One duplex as originally planned would have encroached on the flood plain, but "we are making an adjustment to that duplex so it doesn't extend over that line," he said.</p><h3>Cooperative approach?</h3>
<p>Anderson, the city planning director, said she understands from talking to LaRose that the developer intends to buy all the wetlands from the Thomas family and work with an organization to preserve and enhance them. Weintraub, executive director of ECO, said he has also spoken with LaRose about that possibility.</p><p>LaRose said he did not yet know the total estimated cost of the project. He referred questions to developer Scott Frank, also of Wisconsin.</p><p>Frank said the project will probably be named Oak Park Place of Hendersonville. His company has developed assisted living facilities under that name in Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.</p><p>Contacted while traveling Thursday, Frank said: "We have been working with a couple of national groups, Ducks Unlimited included, to help us with the management of those wetlands. We haven't been able to talk to the local groups yet."</p><p>Frank said his company has received "a green award from the state of Wisconsin for what we have done before." He said the Hendersonville project will include measures to retain and treat stormwater runoff. He hopes to start work in January or February.</p><p>"I certainly want to work with all groups to have a good project," he said. "We have friends that live down there. ... It is a beautiful area and we are excited about coming there to put a nice community together for the elderly."</p><p>ECO grew out of an effort by the group's founder, Mary Jo Padgett, to construct a wetlands trail and boardwalk in Jackson Park. The group has pushed in the past to get conservation easements in place to protect the wetlands and would like to see a plan to preserve and restore the wetlands, Weintraub said.</p><p>"We were hoping to sit down with one of the major landscape architects here about the steps the developer could take that would be a win-win," he said.</p>